In partenza verso il majhul. Italiani ed egiziani in fuga per Alessandria d'Egitto

Abstract

This article analyzes two novels set in Alexandria. The first one is "Cortile a Cleopatra" by the Italian writer Fausta Cialente. The second one is "Nobody sleeps in Alexandria" (Lâ ahad yanâm fî'l-Iskandariyya) by Ibrahim Abdel Meguid. The analysis focus on actions that characterize the genre of travel literature in which the traveler is expected to perform two actions: leaving then returning. If the traveler does not come back to the starting point, his experience is not considered as "travel", rather as "change of residence". But it does not always work out that way. In the two novels, the protagonists leave with intentions of ever coming back. At the same time, their departure includes a "return" to a place (and to the self). Therefore it is difficult to make a clear distinction between "travel" and "change of residence".